Families First Coronavirus Act
NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE SHOULD BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE AND THE READER SHOULD NOT RELY ON THE STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), a federal law effective April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, requires private employers with fewer than 500 employees, not for profit employers, and certain public sector employers to provide special leave in certain circumstances triggered by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The two key pieces of the FFCRA include the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and the Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA):
The EPSLA requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees as described below.
Employers must provide full-time employees with up to 80 hours of paid sick leave (and part-time employees the number of hours worked, on average, during a two-week period) who are unable to work (or telework) due to a need for leave and regardless of their length of employment, for any of the following reasons:
1.The employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19.
2. The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
3. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis from a health care provider.
4. The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to local quarantine or isolation order as described in No. 1 above or has been advised to self-quarantine relating to COVID-19 as described in No. 2 above.
5. The employee is caring for his or her son or daughter whose school or place of care has been closed, or the childcare provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions.
6. The employee is experiencing substantially similar conditions specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.
Employees eligible to receive paid sick leave arising out of the circumstances described in paragraphs (1)–(3), above, are entitled to paid sick leave at their regular rate of pay, but not to exceed “$511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate.”
Employees eligible to receive paid sick leave arising out of the circumstances described in paragraphs (4)–(6), above, are entitled to paid sick leave at two-thirds their regular rate of pay, but not to exceed “$200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate.”
This paid sick leave is in addition to any paid sick leave already provided by the employer but employees may choose to first use paid sick leave under the EPSLA.
In addition, the FFCRA also created the EFMLEA:
Employees are eligible for benefits under the EFMLEA if they have been employed by their employer for “at least 30 calendar days.”
Leave under the EFMLEA is permitted if an employee needs to care for his or her child whose school or childcare provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.
The EFMLEA requires employers to partially pay eligible employees for up to 12 weeks of leave. The first 10 days of leave may be unpaid, but for the remaining period, employers must provide paid leave in no less than two-thirds of an employee’s regular rate of pay. However, the paid leave should not exceed $200 per day and $10,000 in the aggregate.
The EFMLEA also requires that employers (unless they have fewer than 25 employees) restore employees who took covered leave to the same or equivalent position when the employees return to work.
The Department of Labor provides resources and information on the FFCRA, including mandatory notices that employers should post outlining FFCRA’s requirements, a questions and answers page and fact sheets, all of which can be found here.
The Rabb Law Firm continues to monitor guidance and interpretations of the FFCRA and related COVID-19 laws impacting employers and employees.